Mulayam meets AIMPLB Chairman

Lucknow: Apparently disturbed over a reported shift in Muslim votes during the recent civic body elections, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav has begun wooing the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board to win back his main vote-bank.

Mr. Yadav called on the Board Chairman and Islamic scholar Maulana Rabe Hasan Nadwi on Friday and reportedly discussed with him various issues concerning Muslims.

Although nothing was divulged officially, sources here said that the Maulana expressed serious displeasure over the delay in the issuance of a fresh notification by the State Government transferring the Ayodhya trial from the district court in Rae Bareli to the special CBI court in Lucknow.

It could not be immediately known whether Mr. Yadav gave any assurance to the Board.

Senior board member Zafaryab Jilani said there were several issues over which the State Government had adopted an "indifferent" attitude.

The Board had also sought an amendment in the Zamindari Abolition Act granting inheritance rights to Muslim widows and girls in ancestral property.

Mr. Jilani said they had been urging the State Government for an amendment in the Act but action was yet to be taken.

The Board expressed resentment over the reported State Government proposal to augment security at the makeshift Ram temple at Ayodhya by bullet proofing the disputed site.

It has been demanding withdrawal of the proposal saying that it is in violation of the status quo ordered by the Supreme Court.

All these issues would be discussed at the Board’s annual general meeting slated for January 11 to 13 at Chennai, he said.

Uttar Pradesh Minister for Family Welfare Ahmed Hasan, who along with some other Muslim leaders of the Samajwadi Party, were in regular touch with the Board members, said the State Government was committed to the welfare of Muslims.

In the past also, Mr. Yadav has held meetings with several Muslim clerics, including the noted Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Sadiq, to discuss issues of Muslim welfare. - PTI